Scene Overview
Note: We are not able to display the full text for this scene.
- Female: 0
- Male: 2
More Scenes
Context
Playwrights Sidney Bruhl and Clifford Anderson had crafted the perfect scheme. In an elaborate setup, they killed Sidney’s wife by inducing a heart attack. The partners were free to move in together, and all seemed to have worked out exactly as it should. Two weeks later, though, Sidney’s discovered that Clifford is adapting their murder into a play, only thinly veiling their identities. Sidney doesn’t want the show to ever be written, and will do anything to stop it’s production. Clifford
to read the context for this scene from Deathtrap and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Text
Note: We are not able to display the full text for this scene. However, to assist users who already have access to the script, starting and ending lines are presented below. Please visit our scenes database to find scenes that include text.
START. Clifford: She told you I’m the man in boots who attacks you?
Sidney: Yes.
Clifford: She noticed them just before you came in. (Smiles) Did you tell her I used a styrofoam log, not one of the weapons?
Sidney: Don’t think it quite advisable. I told her you’re giving me karate lessons and we’re attacking each other all over the place. (Smiles) “The closer you stay to the truth, the better off you are.”
[... … …]
END. Sidney: Come on, come on . . . Jesus . . . Police Department. (He waits again, silently; tears his shirt a bit more; waits, waits.) My name is Bruhl. I live out on Rabbit Hill Road. I just killed my secretary. He was coming at me with an ax. That’s right. And wait till you hear this part. You’re going to think I’m drunk but I’m stone-cold sober. I shot him with a medieval crossbow. It was the only thing I could get my hands on. (Sits in his desk chair) I assure you it isn’t. Come on out and see. But you’d better bring some flashlights. B-R-U-H-L, Sidney. How nice of you to know. His name was Cli-- (The hand clutching his throat stops him; it pulls backward and Clifford comes up from behind the chair, stabbing again and again into Sidney’s chest with the crossbow bolt. Clifford stops stabbing and hauls himself erect, glassy-eyed, the bolt in his hand, his chest bloody. He crumples to the floor. Sidney, his hands to his own bloody chest, gasps and twitches and dies. Thunder, and blackout.)_
Levin, Ira, Deathtrap, Dramatists Play Service, 1978, pp. 59-65.
Videos
Links
Related Products
Related Articles
Related Learning Modules
All scenes are the property and copyright of their owners.
Scenes are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this scene, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.